In-place definition of software extensions

Abstract

Implementations of the present disclosure include methods, systems, and computer-readable storage mediums for providing in-place extensions to an application, including receiving one or more artifacts associated with the application; graphically depicting a representation of at least one artifact of the one or more artifacts on a display, the at least one artifact comprising extension points defined by a developer of the application; receiving first user input indicating a first extension to the at least one artifact, the first extension being associated with an extension point of the one or more extension points and being applied to the representation, the at least one artifact remaining unchanged in view of the first extension being applied to the representation; determining a delta based on the first extension and the at least one artifact; and storing the delta in an extension repository, the delta being usable to extend one or more other artifacts.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method for providing one or more in-place extensions to an application, the method being executed by one or more processors and comprising:
 receiving, by the one or more processors, one or more artifacts associated with the application, the application comprising a computer-executable program; 
 graphically depicting, by the one or more processors, a representation of at least one artifact of the one or more artifacts on a display, the at least one artifact comprising one or more extension points defined by a developer of the application; 
 receiving, by the one or more processors, first user input indicating a first extension to the at least one artifact, the first extension being associated with an extension point of the one or more extension points and being applied to the representation, to provide an impression of an extended artifact to indicate to the developer that the first extension is directly changing the at least one artifact, while the at least one artifact remains unchanged in view of the first extension being applied to the representation; 
 determining, by the one or more processors, a delta defined as a difference between the impression of the extended artifact and the at least one artifact, such that the delta leaves the at least one artifact unchanged in view of the first extension; and 
 storing, by the one or more processors, the delta in an extension repository that is separated from a storage of the one or more artifacts, the delta being usable to extend the one or more other artifacts. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein an extended artifact is defined based on application of the first extension to the representation. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the delta comprises an aggregation of the first extension and a second extension. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving second user input indicating a second extension to the at least one artifact; 
 determining that the second extension is a prohibited extension; and 
 prohibiting application of the second extension. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the prohibited extension is defined by the developer of the application. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the prohibited extension comprises a deletion of a portion of the artifact. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 graphically displaying a list of applications on a display; and 
 receiving user input indicating a selection of the application from the list of applications, wherein graphically depicting the representation of the at least one artifact on the display is performed in response to the user input. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 graphically displaying a list of available extensions on a display; and 
 receiving user input indicating a selection of the first extension from the list of available extensions. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representation of the at least one artifact comprises a process level representation depicting one or more tasks and a workflow provided as edges between tasks of the one or more tasks. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first extension comprises one of a modification of a task of the one or more tasks, a deletion of a task from the one or more tasks and an addition of a task to the one or more tasks. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first user input comprises a graphical manipulation of the representation. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representation of the at least one artifact comprises a code level representation. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the representation of the at least one artifact comprises an interface level representation. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, for each extension point of the one or more extension points, providing a list of available extensions, the list of available extensions being specific to a respective extension point. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations for providing one or more in-place extensions to an application, the operations comprising:
 receiving, by the one or more processors, one or more artifacts associated with the application, the application comprising a computer-executable program; 
 graphically depicting, by the one or more processors, a representation of at least one artifact of the one or more artifacts on a display, the at least one artifact comprising one or more extension points defined by a developer of the application; 
 receiving, by the one or more processors, first user input indicating a first extension to the at least one artifact, the first extension being associated with an extension point of the one or more extension points and being applied to the representation, to provide an impression of an extended artifact to indicate to the developer that the first extension is directly changing the at least one artifact, while the at least one artifact remains unchanged in view of the first extension being applied to the representation; 
 determining, by the one or more processors, a delta defined as a difference between the impression of the extended artifact and the at least one artifact, such that the delta leaves the at least one artifact unchanged in view of the first extension; and 
 storing, by the one or more processors, the delta in an extension repository that is separated from a storage of the one or more artifacts, the delta being usable to extend the one or more other artifacts. 
 
     
     
       16. A system, comprising:
 a computing device comprising one or more processors; and 
 a computer-readable storage device coupled to the computing device and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations for providing one or more in-place extensions to an application, the operations comprising:
 receiving, by the one or more processors, one or more artifacts associated with the application, the application comprising a computer-executable program; 
 graphically depicting, by the one or more processors, a representation of at least one artifact of the one or more artifacts on a display, the at least one artifact comprising one or more extension points defined by a developer of the application; 
 receiving, by the one or more processors, first user input indicating a first extension to the at least one artifact, the first extension being associated with an extension point of the one or more extension points and being applied to the representation, to provide an impression of an extended artifact to indicate to the developer that the first extension is directly changing the at least one artifact, while the at least one artifact remains unchanged in view of the first extension being applied to the representation; 
 determining, by the one or more processors, a delta defined as a difference between the impression of the extended artifact and the at least one artifact, such that the delta leaves the at least one artifact unchanged in view of the first extension; and 
 storing, by the one or more processors, the delta in an extension repository that is separated from a storage of the one or more artifacts, the delta being usable to extend the one or more other artifacts.